Obviously the idea that farmers are only boys is far from true, and Mulkern herself has done a tremendous service to disparage that stereotype with The Female Farmer Project. But still, take a look at most children’s books and you’ll likely see the same visual representation of a farmer — an older, white male. It’s easy to see why that 5-year-old girl thought the way she did. So Mulkern got to work:

“I wanted to find a way to show girls that they too could be farmers, but in a fun interactive way. A way that they get to decide what the farmer looks like; is she white, black? Old, young? I could provide the outline, they provide the creativity.”

Mulkern enlisted the help of an artist friend, Joe Lee Davidson, to turn one of her photos into a coloring page, then held a coloring contest for a chance to win a Farmer Barbie. (Yes, a Farmer Barbie. We didn't know she existed either, but we love her!) Hopefully the success of her coloring page contest will lead Mulkern and Davidson to create a full “Farmer Girl” coloring book.